


It wasn't love at first sight

by TheonlyDan



Category: Ocean's (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 09:01:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15288129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheonlyDan/pseuds/TheonlyDan
Summary: A back story of Lou and Debbie's past.How the two met, got together and became a team.How one's heart was broken by the other, and then probably fixed by the other, too.





	It wasn't love at first sight

**Author's Note:**

> This time I worked on Lou's narrative; hope it won't be too out of place:)
> 
> Have a great time reading:D

 Lou Miller was a creature that lived for fun.

She was quite the womanizer in the past; she enjoyed being able to see through another lonely human being, lure them with her pretty words and fabulous façade, then bring them to bed eventually.  
The combination of sex, drugs, dollar bills and the smell of club was the instant paradise that she lived for.  
Of course, the rush was always fleeting, and she had always wanted for something more……

  
Permanent.

  
But stable things were hard to come by for someone like her; who needed someone when everyone was dying to know you?

 She once hated herself.  
Lou hated that she was made into someone that was wrapped up perfectly on the outside, with the inside that had nothing but hollowness.  
She could see her reflection in other people’s eyes: a blonde-haired goddess, stealing and breaking hearts everywhere she went; a mysterious woman with an Australian accent and her own ways with the world; a free spirit that would probably disappear in front of you, vanish into an alternate reality.  
No one had truly known her; she gave the audience what they wished to see, for knowing that no one would understand the feeling of loneliness better than she did.  
She was once lost, unsure of her purpose on this world.

Until she met Debora Ocean.

 She had those chocolate-brown eyes, delicate features, and a special aura that Lou had stared for an uncomfortably long time.  
Then their eyes inevitably met across the bar.  
Perhaps their universe was destined to collide; but Lou could swear at that very moment, her heart had skipped a beat like all of the cliches.

The blonde walked across the crowded dance floor, but once she reached the other end, she was rather disappointed that the woman was gone.  
“One for her, please.’’

A clear, sexy note drawled beside her, and Lou turned around.  
God, the brunette was even more beautiful when they were closer: she had gorgeous cocoa eyes and long, brown hair; nicely dressed in a simple black blouse and tailored suit-pants, perhaps a bit taller than Lou. She couldn’t tell if the woman was wearing heels under the dim lights.  
But the awful thing was: the stranger was radiating with confidence.  
Lou, for once in a very long time, felt self-conscious and a bit nervous.  
“It had been a long time that a woman buys me a drink.’’

Lou smiled lazily. She was not unfamiliar with all this.  
“Well I guess that makes me special.”

The stranger answered nonchalantly and looked at her right in the eyes.  
Lou couldn’t figure her out.  
“I’m Lou.”  
“I know who you are.” 

The woman calmly raised her glass.  
“Cheers to the night?”

They clink their glasses together.  
Lou was still processing the whole situation that the drink struck her with an unexpected strong flavor.  
“I didn’t know there would be someone classy enough to buy me vodka.”  
“Took a lucky guess.’’

The mysterious woman shrugged.  
“What has brought you here? You seemed too good for this place.”  
“Business.”

The brunette said airily, finished her drink and smiled at her with sparkles in her eyes.  
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Lou.”  
“Leaving so soon? At least tell me your name?”

First in a very long time, Lou had to ask for somebody’s name like this.  
“Clarisse. Just call me Claire. ”

The woman didn’t flinch a bit when Lou closed their distance suddenly.  
The woman smelled like danger and expensive perfume.  
“You don’t seem to be a ‘Claire’, honey.”

Lou smirked as she found that the woman’s eyes flickered to her lips.  
But “Claire” did something unexpected. She leaned in and whispered in Lou’s ear:  
“Meet me again and I’ll tell you my real name.”

Her breath ghosted on her neck that Lou shuddered.

When she was gone, Lou found that in her pocket, there was a piece of paper with an address and date.

Back then, Lou suddenly felt alive for some reason. She lived for danger and the mysterious woman seemed to have exactly what she craved.

 She took her chance and went to the address in the end.  
It turned out to be a lunch proposal that Lou was once again surprised-- a job offer. She learned that the woman’s real name was Debbie, and she was one of the Oceans.

No wonder she had such a cool demeanor; but Lou was more curious about one more thing……  
Why picked her as her partner?  
“I’ve heard about you.”

Debbie answered her with a simple statement. Lou felt a bit agitated, because she knew almost nothing about her and she seemed to know everything about Lou.

She had always been in control of situations.  
“And why haven’t I heard that there was another Ocean?”  
“My brother isn’t subtle, nor does he like it.”

Lou arched her perfect eyebrows at her as Debbie winked.  
“So? What’s your answer going to be?”

It was a trick. It all was.  
She could swear that Debbie definitely knew her answer. Lou clenched her fists till her knuckles turned white.

She made Lou interested for something she didn’t understand; and she knew too well about her deadly habit of taking unwanted risks.  
“What if I said no?”  
“Well, it would be a pretty shame for me to miss out on a gorgeous Australian.”

Lou laughed.  
“I’ll take that as a yes then.”

Just like that, they became partners in crime.

 In the beginning, Lou was thrilled.  
Every moment they had together was adrenalized and golden.  
They had the world in their hands, invincible.  
They became in sync, and Lou had connected with Debbie to a level that she could never achieve with somebody else.

They became notoriously famous in the crime-industry; they had never failed or got busted.  
They trusted each other; once you found out a way of surviving, you latch on to it no matter the consequences or how grave the cost is.

However, Lou was troubled by questions and doubts that were unreasonable yet rational enough to leave her sleepless at night.  
They made her pondered about all of this.

For one, Debbie's heart.  
Being a criminal mastermind wasn’t easy, so Debbie did one thing that Lou understood well: she never let anyone in.  
Never had Lou once sneaked a peek behind those great walls of Debbie’s while they were still partners.

For one, Debbie’s intentions.  
Lou knew that doing something just for fun was perfectly understandable.  
But sometimes, she just couldn’t figure out why the hell the woman needed to do things that seemed totally irrelevant to her.  
Was it revenge? Money?  
Lou was totally in the dark.

Then, Debbie broke her.

 It wasn’t love at first sight, nor would Lou admit that she had gradually fallen in love with Debbie when they were in a working relationship.  
Debbie knew a lot of people; and Lou had lasted for a pathetic short amount of time to try to resist Debbie’s ways of dissolving her.

She failed eventually.

Debbie had torn down her walls brick by brick till there was nothing for protection.  
Until there were no longer any fancy disguise or extravagant cover over her heart.  
Until she was vulnerable in ways she would never allow with anyone else.  
And then, Debbie broke her heart.

 Something that Lou had figured out quite lately in their partnership was the real intention of Debora Ocean.  
To tear them apart, and break their mind, their souls, their spirits.  
You play with fire, you get burned.  
The victims would still be coming down from the highs and happily hand themselves over.

But in the end, Debbie had gone soft on Lou.

Because she probably knew that Lou was smart enough to guess the ending to all of this; she probably cared for Lou in ways she never realized; she probably had found the closest partner that counted as an equal.  
Claude Becker was the excuse to the end of their—  
Well, whatever the definition of their relationship was, but the true reasons behind was better not to be spoken out loud.  
She was rather sad that Debbie—HER Debbie—chose to push her away and find another soul.

Lou thought her own heart was numb and too hard to be broken.  
When the day they parted, Debbie planted a chaste kiss on her cheek--  
\--And Lou wondered if she’d ever recover from the pain in her chest.  
Actually, she was relieved that she could actually be heartbroken, to feel anything that would consume her alive.

 Lou spent every penny and opened a bar of her own.  
The business went well; and for a while, she was busy enough to ignore the ache and the wound breathing inside of her.  
She got rid of her bad habits like smoking or hooking up with strangers(she still flirted though); and she had started to workout, making real friends.

But the hollow feeling just won’t go away.

One day she swore she saw Debbie’s face across the room, and then she convinced herself that it was just some pretty brunette.  
And then it wasn’t a mistake.  
“Vodka, please.” The familiar clear, cool notes made Lou paused and looked at the woman.  
She calmly turned around and made her the drink.

Debbie was still stunning and capturing with her confidence like the day they met.  
She was in a dress this time.  
She was in a black, silky, flowy and sexy-as-fuck designer’s dress.  
Lou's heart clenched. It was almost a year since she last heard from her.  
“Again, you are still too good for this place.”

She joked lightly, looking at Debbie without much emotion.  
“You……look different.”

Of course she would notice that Lou’s hair was cut to shoulder length, and her style had changed a bit in the last couple of months.  
“And you still look fabulous, darling.”

Lou smiled plastically, handing her the drink.  
Her eyes told a different story.  
Debbie sighed.  
“Stop it.”  
“Pardon?”  
“Stop acting like I’m someone random.”  
“And would you do the same for me?”

Lou looked at Debbie sharply, and Debbie averted her gaze and took a sip of the drink.  
“Lou, I’ve given you everything I could.”  
“You’re saying what you tried hard to believe in. We both knew that.”  
They gazed at each other for a while.  
Too many memories; too many histories; too many emotions.  
How in the hell, would she ever get over Debbie Ocean?  
“Do you love him?”

A simple question followed up. This time, Lou was simply curious.

Then she felt a stab in her chest upon seeing Debbie’s eyes lit up with colors and……  
Insecurity?  
“I think so.”

She looked into Lou’s eyes, searching for any clues of her thought.  
Lou smiled. Genuinely.  
“I’m happy for you.”  
“No you’re not.”

Debbie looked incredulously at Lou, not believing what she had said was in fact, true from the bottom of her heart.  
Maybe, at that moment, Debbie had finally realized Lou really loved her.

Maybe, when you loved someone enough, you’d let them go.  
Lou in the first time, saw a kind of emotion flicker in Debbie’s eyes.

Regret.

 Then after a few years, Lou heard from Debbie again.  
She called and told her that she was going to prison.  
Of course, Lou was so shocked that she dropped a bottle of fine whiskey on her own feet.  
“Are you telling me you were set up by HIM?”

Red, all she could see was red.

  
“Louise, please. He wasn’t worth it.”

Debbie’s voice sound torn and raw, like she had been crying.  
“Give me a reason so I won’t end him myself.”

Lou was trembling for some reason.

The line went quiet for a while, and all they could hear was each other’s breathing.  
“Lou……”  
“Yes?”  
“I’m sorry. “

Lou felt a drop of something on her neck.  
She was already crying in silence.  
“Babe, it’s alright. It’s going to be alright.”

Debbie must be crying to, judging by her irregular breathing and soft sobs.  
“Can you just…… talk to me?”

Lou’s heart quickened.  
“Debbie Ocean, you’re a tough woman, stronger than anyone I’ve known. You will be fine. You ARE going to be fine—”

  
“I’m scared.”

Another blow upon Lou’s chest: it was the first time that Debbie showed her weak side.  
Someone spoke loudly on the background and Lou decided to act quickly.  
“Debora?”  
“Yeah?”

She swallowed thickly.  
“I love you.”

Of all the things that she did, Lou thought that was the bravest action she had taken.  
She heard a relieved sigh and a watery chuckle.  
“Could you wait for me?”

Lou paused.  
This was the promise that she had imagined a million times, but definitely not in this scenario.  
“I will.”

The line was dead all of a sudden, leaving her wondering if it was all just a dream.

It wasn’t.

  
 Days became weeks, months became years.  
Lou had transformed into a kind of wild animal that lives in solitary.  
Her bar was running low for a while, so she decided to take risks and changed it into a noisier, louder and bigger night club for all kinds of people to lose themselves in.  
A lost paradise that welcomed anyone as long as there were no strings attached and the wallets were full.

Lou understood enough that Debbie didn’t want any contacts; it would be too much of a burden for her mind.  
Sometimes, simple days were harder to come by for people like Debbie and Lou.  
They were both addicts; to blood rushes, to emotions, to danger.  
So she waited with patience that hadn’t existed before, for Debbie.  
Lou lived on hope now.

 

 She texted her after 5 years, 8 months and 12 days.

Lou was surprisingly calm and rational. For nearly 6 years, she had changed and matured, and she knew that Debbie would, too.  
Five years of prison would change a lot of things between them from now on.

 She looked way too beautiful to be out of jail.  
5 years hadn’t been gone without traces; they strengthened Debbie and softened her at the same time.  
She told Lou about her plan for the jewels, and Lou was intrigued but not surprised.  
Of course, business always had to come first, didn’t it?

 “You are staring.”

Lou shook herself out of her thoughts and a faint blush crept on her cheeks.  
“Only because you look older.”

She shot back, trying to cover up the fact that she was looking at Debbie like a lovesick teenager.  
“Hey, come here.”

Lou put down her book and sat on the couch with Debbie.

She told herself to act cool, but failed once Debbie looked into her eyes.  
Oh god, those chocolate-brown eyes had never been warmer before.  
Debbie cupped her cheek like she was fragile and the most precious thing on the world.  
“You kept your promise. And I intend to make one.”

Lou's breath caught in her throat as Debbie leaned in and brushed her lips against hers.  
A burning sensation climbed from her spine and sped up her heartbeat.  
It was magical.  
Lou's eyelashes fluttered as Debbie tucked a platinum strand of hair behind her ear.  
“Hey, you.”

Debbie whispered softly.  
Lou felt her cheeks were on fire.  
“Hey.”

Lou answered stupidly and smiled like a fool.  
“After this, would you run away with me?”

Another cliche line that Lou stole from some old movie.  
Old but classy, at least.  
Because for the first time, Debbie Ocean looked genuinely happy and carefree at the same time.  
“Seal it with a kiss?”

Debbie smiled but said nothing.

She answered Lou with a mind-blowing kiss instead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Can't get enough of these two!  
> I wish Ocean's 8 had more scenes about their past together……and actually I'm also confused about the timeline ( the "10 years ago scene" vs 5 years in prison???)  
> But I'm just happy about this movie.(silently screaming for sequels)


End file.
